Al Qaeda planning attacks on high-speed trains in Europe-newspaper

BERLIN, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is planning attacks onhigh-speed trains in Europe and the authorities in Germany havestepped up security on the country's rail system, a Germannewspaper reported on Monday.

The information about the planned attacks came from theUnited States' National Security Agency (NSA), which apparentlyintercepted a call between senior al Qaeda members several weeksago, the mass-circulation daily said.

But the German Interior Ministry said it regularly receivedinformation about such threats and was not planning to increaseoverall security.

"It is known that Germany, along with other Western states,is a target for jihadist terrorists so we always assess warningson a case-by-case basis but we already have a high level ofprotective measures and we do not plan to step these up at themoment," spokesman Jens Teschke said at a routine governmentnews conference.

The scandal surrounding the NSA's global electronic spyingoperation has become a major headache for Chancellor AngelaMerkel ahead of the Sept. 22 election. Government snooping is asensitive subject in Germany due to the heavy surveillance ofcitizens in the former communist East and under Hitler's Nazis.

Bild said German authorities had tightened security onhigh-speed Intercity-Express (ICE) routes and at stations with"invisible measures", including the deployment of plain clothespolice officers.

A spokesman for the German federal police said efforts werealready commensurate with the "highly dangerous situation bothat home and abroad" but said it had alerted its forces.

The newspaper report cited unnamed security experts assaying the attacks could include acts of sabotage on railinfrastructure or bombings onboard trains.

A spokeswoman for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn would not comment on the Bild report, but said thecompany was always in regular contact with with the securityauthorities over possible threats.

Earlier this month the United States shut around 20embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa aftersaying it had picked up information through surveillance andother means about unspecified threats.

Germany narrowly avoided an attack in 2006 when two suitcasebombs left on commuter trains in Cologne failed to explode.